White Like Me

Jordan Webber

U.S. Diversity 201

Roy Stallworth

Final Draft

“White Like Me” is an engaging text on racism, white privilege, and the revealing stories that show that racism has still not been eliminated in today’s society. This is the unfortunate, but bold and needed truth of this book. I will be honest and say that I didn’t think that racism was such a big problem in today’s society still. This book, by Tim Wise, can help so many Whites to begin to understand how to fight racism effectively like African Americans have been doing for centuries. My report will give an overview of Tim Wise’s book; going through chapter by chapter (born to belonging, privilege, denial, resistance, collaboration, loss, redemption, and the epilogue) and picking out important points along the way. Hopefully it will be enlightening like it was for me.

Whites are born into belonging, meaning that we do not have to prove ourselves in terms of our rights to be here. People of color on the other hand, have always had to overcome obstacles. This would include mostly racism, but also unfair treatment and incorrect stereotypes. Whites essentially get a head start in a nation that was built to give whites an unfair advantage. However, the nation of the United States doesn’t admit the unfair part. There are many things out there in this world that make racism and inequality unbelievable, but that still is only because of White privilege. Since the 1600’s, “All whites were placed above all persons of color when it came to the economic, social, and political hierarchies that were to form in the United States, without exception.” (pg. 3) Many white people have just come to accept this higher status and think that it is normal, which is why many people think that there aren’t any problems with racism today.

The status of being white gives one the ability to have power. That power exists even if they may be in the working class or not have a lot of money. Being white is being...